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An over-the-counter cough suppressant can knock some heart cells back into rhythm, a finding that may lead to a new way to treat a rare heart condition called long QT syndrome. In people with long QT syndrome, heart cells are not always ready to produce the next beat, a situation that can knock the heart out of its normal rhythm, which may be life-threatening. For many people with long QT, no treatment can correct the heart cells or prevent arrythmia. Heart cells in a dish The cough suppressant discovery began several years ago when Yazawa found that heart cells in...

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. — A Minnesota man who killed two teenagers who broke into his home can be heard on an audio recording talking to himself for hours after the shooting and at one point, apparently describing the slain teens as "vermin." Byron Smith, of Little Falls, faces first-degree premeditated murder charges in the deaths of 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nick Brady on Thanksgiving Day in 2012. Smith, 65, claimed he was defending himself and feared for his life after several break-ins at his home. Prosecutors, though, say Smith planned the killings. They say he sat in a chair...

On Sept. 14, the FDA will ask a panel of outside experts whether dextromethorphan should be available only as a prescription. The agency is not required to follow the group's advice, though it often does. Mandating a prescription for the drug would deal a major blow to over-the-counter drug makers, which use the drug in dozens of combination cold medicines. Popular brands containing dextromethorphan include Wyeth's Dimetapp, Bayer's Alka Seltzer Flu Plus and Procter & Gamble's Vicks cough medicines. The drug is available in pills, gel caps, liquids and other forms.

CHICAGO - Despite the billions of dollars spent every year in this country on over-the-counter cough syrups, most such medicines do little if anything to relieve coughs, the nation's chest physicians say. Over-the-counter cough syrups generally contain drugs in too low a dose to be effective, or contain combinations of drugs that have never been proven to treat coughs, said Dr. Richard Irwin, chairman of a cough guidelines committee for the American College of Chest Physicians. Drugstore shelves are crowded with cough syrups promising speedy, often non-drowsy relief without a prescription. But "the best studies that we have to date...

DENVER - Tammy Quist, principal of Fairview High School in Boulder, was not surprised when she learned in April that a student was in a coma after overdosing on an over-the-counter cold medicine. "It's out there, and you know kids do it," Ms. Quist said. "It's cheap, accessible and it's not illegal if kids get caught. And it usually goes unnoticed until a kid takes too much or combines it with something to get a horrible reaction and overdoses." Cough and cold medications containing dextromethorphan, or DXM, are becoming increasingly popular among teenagers and young adults looking for a cheap...